


Merrion Square

by MossyFlossy



Series: Life Outside the Library [4]
Category: The Invisible Library - Genevieve Cogman
Genre: Angst, Arson, Explosions, F/M, General destruction of property, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Sexual Assault, Irene is a petty thief, Irene is just petty, Is blowing something up arson?, It is actually grand larceny, One day I'll work out how to tag, Theft, and stealing, general illegalities
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-25
Updated: 2019-06-16
Packaged: 2020-01-31 21:10:36
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 14,848
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18599476
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MossyFlossy/pseuds/MossyFlossy
Summary: Having been asked to teach a few classes on Dragons, Irene spends a few weeks in the Library and sets up a job for another Librarian to conduct in her absence. One week before she's set to return she's in for a rude awakening.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Alright, let's try this again. It's less shit. I think. I have also yet to work out how to format shit, so if it looks weird, please tell me and I'll try again

Irene was awoken with a start, ice cold water being poured over the side of her head, and Bradamant snapping at her to get up, that was an unpleasant flashback to her training days, and an unpleasant start to the day. She swept hair out of her eyes, now dripping wet.

 

“What the hell?” She demanded, not having expected to find anyone stood in her bedroom in the Library. A part of her brain suggested that she roll over and curl up against Kai, but he wasn’t there, he was in their bed back home. That thought also gave her pause. When did that house start being home more than the Library was? Maybe it was the man and not the place though. Maybe her home was wherever Kai was waiting for her, with an embrace, kiss and cup of tea and questions about how she was.

 

“Get up.” Bradamant snapped again. “Coppelia wants you now. You probably have ten minutes.” That got her scrambling out of the bed.

 

“What is going on?” She asked as she found out clothes and headed into her bathroom, she’d be able to hear through the door.

 

“That assignment you set up for Seraphina? She was meant to be back two days ago. We gave her the benefit of the doubt, but she still hasn’t returned.” Irene swore as she smacked her knee off the underside of the sink. She did up her blouse and made sure that it was properly tucked into her skirt, long and deep grey. She left and grabbed the first pair of boots that she could find, leaving her hair, it was still in a braid but was probably mussed up from her uneasy night of sleep.

 

“Why wasn’t I told?” Irene asked, reaching for her jacket. “And how did you get into my room?”

 

“Because you have been busy. And Coppelia gave me the override code, you may want to change that one when you get the chance.” Irene made sure that the door was locked behind her before the pair hurried through the corridors.

 

Three hours later, Irene was back in her home in London, Kai was out, and she was looking through the notes that she had obtained herself. The door downstairs clattered open and she froze.

 

“Irene?” Kai’s voice, and if she was correct, Vale was with him. She closed the file as they came into the study. “I thought you weren’t back for another week.”

 

“Things went wrong.” She said. “I sent a Librarian into the world to do a job for me, only she has now dropped out of contact. Has anyone sent anything here for me? She may have tried to get in contact with me. Only I wasn’t here to receive it.”

 

“When did they drop out of contact?” Vale asked as Kai disappeared.

 

“I don’t know. She should have been back two days ago. Only no one bloody told me.” Vale glared at her. Irene exhaled and put her hand on her forehead. “Sorry. Seraphina is my friend. I recruited her; I will admit that I am… protective of her. It will be my fault if anything has happened to her.”

 

“Where was she going?”

 

“Dublin.” Irene said. She paused and took a deep breath. “The job wasn’t strictly legal.”

 

“So she could have just been arrested?”

 

“No. She is a sworn Librarian; she would have been able to escape very easily.” She explained. “She has the Language, she can do what I can, though she does have less experience than I do, she is younger than I am and hasn’t been in the field as much.” Kai came back into the room and Irene frowned. “Someone sent me flowers?”

 

The bouquet was a decent size of fresh red flowers and green leaves, roses and others than Irene could not name. Kai nodded and set them on the desk and gave her some envelopes, including a telegram message on top. “They arrived this morning, the telegram came with them.” Irene slit the envelope open with her paperknife and shook the message out.

 

“You may want to come and fetch your friend.” Irene read aloud. “Little things like that do tend to get into trouble when left alone with people like him.” She swallowed.

 

“Who sent it?” Kai asked. Irene flipped it over.

 

“Lord Silver.” She said, she felt sick. She had sent someone that she knew and cared about right into trouble. “I think that I need to pay him a visit.”

 

“He isn’t in.” Vale said, shaking his head. “He’s been away for the last week or so.”

 

“Away where?” Irene asked, already guessing the answer and hating it.

 

“He’s in Dublin.” Irene put the note down and leant on the desk, forcing all of her panicked thoughts to the back of her mind.

 

“Alright.” She said slowly. “I need to pack a bag and find out when the next zeppelin to Dublin will be. The Library sent me back early to find out what has happened. I need to find Seraphina.”

 

“I’m coming with you.” Kai said.

 

“You can’t get yourself involved in Library business.” Irene said, shaking her head. “You’ll get into trouble if anyone finds out, and I will too, for bringing you into it. You need to stay here.”

 

“Then allow me to help you.” Vale said. Irene shook her head again.

 

“I do not know what side of the law I am going to be on.” Irene admitted. “I don’t want to bring you into the fact that I have dubious morals.” Kai nearly laughed. That was one way of putting Irene’s work. Vale just shrugged.

 

“I have broken the law before, and if someone’s life is potentially in danger, then I believe that I can look past it.” He said. “Who is the him that the message speaks of? The book’s owner?”

 

“Jupiter O’Hara. He’s an Irish Fae and a bibliophile, he refused to sell me the book, I was planning on heading there myself to take it, but Coppelia needed my help, so I picked Seraphina, I thought she would be more than up to the task. I found no record of him being particularly dangerous, and he isn’t known to the Library, so I presumed that he wasn’t. And now, she’s in danger.”

 

“I haven’t heard of him before.” Kai said.

 

“Me neither, which is rather telling.” Vale frowned. “It is a possibility that he is particularly good at covering up his actions, or simply never gets caught in the first place, possibly friends in high places.” He began to pace the study. “How long has she been away for?”

 

“A week, she should have been five days at the very most.” Irene said. “That should have given her plenty of time to scout out his house, come up with a plan and get back to the Library through the nearest point to her. I don’t know Dublin too well, so I don’t know where that would be, possibly Trinity College.”

 

“All the more reason why you shouldn’t go alone Winters.” Vale said. “Besides, I doubt that Strongrock would actually stay here, and would not just get the next flight after yours.”

 

“Well, I am not going to admit to anything.” Kai said.

 

“Please don’t encourage him.” Irene sighed. “I am already getting a headache. Please don’t make me have to worry about him, you and Seraphina. “

 

“And yourself.”

 

“Less important.” Kai cocked an eyebrow. “Now is not the time to discuss my views on my self-importance.”

 

“Or lack thereof.”

 

 


	2. Chapter 2

“Excuse me, we are looking for a woman who checked in here three days ago.” Vale said, flashing his identification at the desk clerk in the small hotel Irene had told Seraphina to book her room in. Neither man had left Irene with much choice but to accept their help. Not that she was complaining but she was already forming a contingency plan to keep Kai out of Library business; and as soon as she had a moment alone with him, talking to him about making sure that Vale didn’t break the law for her, she didn’t want to make him make difficult decisions or digress against his own rather strict moral code.

“What name?” 

“Seraphina Walker.” He said. “Local girl, red hair?”

“I remember her, has something happened?” 

“She’s missing. Can we see her room?” The clerk grabbed a bundle of keys and led the upstairs and let them into a small sized room. 

The bed had been freshly made and Vale muttered in annoyance, they had messed up the evidence, not that they had known. Irene ignored him as he got on his knees to search around the bed. There was a small, brown leather briefcase on the table. Irene picked it up, but it was locked. She spun the numbers around until they clicked. 

“Well, she is definitely going to get a lecture on using different codes for different things.” She muttered, leafing through the papers. 

“Did you just guess it?” Vale asked. “And get it right?” 

“She’s had this for a while.” Irene said, setting papers out to look at them, most of them she recognised as she had written them, backgrounds on the alternate and job and the likes. “I just looked at which numbers were the most worn away. Also it was the date that she was sworn in.” 

“Seriously?”

“At least it wasn’t her birthday.”

“Do those give you an idea where she may be?” Kai asked. 

“She had a few leads from the looks of her notes.” Irene said. “He frequented a building near Merrion square. Why do I know that place?” 

“Home of Oscar Wild and Bram Stoker.” Kai said. “Ever broken in?” 

“Yes, but they were living together at the time.” Irene said. “Their relationship is interesting no matter what alternate they are in.” Vale ignored them.

“When was she last here?” Vale asked the clerk, who was leaning against the door and watching. 

“I haven’t seen her since the day she checked in. I think she went out for dinner; I wasn’t on shift later on; I can see if the others have seen her.” 

“Thank you.” Irene put the papers away, slipping a scrap into her pocket before snapping it shut again. 

“What did you find?” Vale demanded once they were outside. Irene pulled the paper out again. He snatched it out of her hands, and then realised that he couldn’t actually read it and Irene grabbed it back. 

“I haven’t got a clue.” Irene confessed. “It is a list of addresses, but I don’t think they are all Dublin based, a couple I recognise from London. Including one that I think we all know. Montagu square.” 

“The Lichtenstein embassy.” Kai said. “How is Silver mixed up in this?” 

“Well the book’s owner is Fae.” Irene said. “Maybe they know each other? Seraphina must have found something to link the two.”

“What do you have Vale?” It was still raining, and Irene put up the umbrella that she had tucked under her arm, Kai took it so that they could both stand under it without Irene poking him in the eye from her inferior height, Vale just tolerated the rain. 

“She hadn’t been in that room since it was last cleaned, and it had yet to be cleaned today, so yesterday morning was the latest time she could have possibly been in there. Taking into account how long it took us to get here and that you found the flowers and note a little before noon today,” it was growing dark, the barest traces of natural light left in the sky and Irene was tired from the long and stressful day, “Silver would have had to know something was wrong by yesterday evening in order to make sure that the flowers were delivered this morning.”

“Okay.” Irene said, following along. 

“Miss Walker must have left the room the day before, after it had been cleaned, and did not return after that point. Whatever happened then could have been how she encountered Silver.” 

“Could it be an idea to find Silver?” Kai suggested. “He’ll know what is going on.” 

“I do not doubt he will, I just worry what the price will be.” Irene said. “He sent the initial warning, but I would imagine that he did that because he hopes to get something out of this situation, or he believes that we may cause an incident that he could benefit from.” 

The Liffey was slow moving, dark and deep, Kai paused for a second as they crossed a bridge to look into it, before catching up again. Irene purchased a map and they found a small café where they could commandeer a table and get something to eat. She opened the map up and with one of the pens that lived in her bag, she marked off the addresses that Seraphina had put on the paper, written in Polish. 

“Why did she chose Polish?” Kai asked. “Is she particularly good at it?”

“No.” Irene said, shaking her head. “It is uncommon to speak it out of Poland here so it’s a good language to use if she didn’t want anyone to read her notes. It’s why I use it too, so you cant read it over my shoulder.” 

I don’t do that. Much.” Kai said. “That one is pretty far away.” He tapped two long fingers on a point on the far west of the city. 

“O’Hara lives out by Phoenix park.” She said. “That’s his home, and where the book is meant to be.” 

“This is the address that she wrote that he frequented every night so far.” Irene said, tapping it, it was next to Merrion square, the area is a mix of residential buildings and cafes if I remember correctly.” 

“Could be a liaison of his.” Kai said, to put it delicately. Fae relations were complex, and liaison was the nicest way of saying ‘maybe he goes to argue with someone that he hates and then have sex with them.’ 

“Possibly. I believe she was planning on waiting for him to enter and then head to his house, she’d probably have been out before he left.” Irene said. She sat down and Kai pushed her plate closer to her with a look. She shot her own back, but nonetheless, dug into her food. 

“If she was hiding, where do you think she would go?” Kai asked. 

“She would have got in touch.” Irene said. “She would have done so as soon as she knew something was wrong.” 

“Would have, or should have?” Vale asked. 

“Seraphina isn’t stupid. We have caution drummed into us and she knew where I was in case something did happen. I told her I would come if she needed me and to ask for help. She said that she would.” Vale dropped it, but he didn’t accept her argument. 

“If she couldn’t get in contact then, say, if she was being followed. Can we track her in some way?” 

“I would have to head to Library security for a copy of her brand and I doubt Melusine would give it to me.” Irene said, shaking her head. “I have no token to use. I would need blood.” 

“Blood?” Vale asked with a frown.

“Yes, it was how I tracked Kai in Venice.” Irene explained. “Apparently blood works best but it isn’t something I have tried before, so I don’t know.”

“Where on earth did you get my blood from?” Kai spluttered. 

“Your uncle.” Irene said simply, as if it clearly answered the question, though it only did to her as neither he nor Vale had been with her when she had spoken to Ao Shun.

“This is just raising more… oh wait, the pendant?” 

“Correct. I used to triangulate your location.” Irene explained. “I suppose it could work with other tokens such as hair, but I have never tired and do not have any of it anyway.” 

“Should have checked the hotel room.” Kai said. 

“We can go back if we need to.” Irene said. “But I have no idea if it works or if we would just be wasting our time.” 

“I propose we head to this address and see what is there.” Vale said. “The others all seem to be people’s homes.” Kai and Irene nodded. They finished eating, paid the bill and cleared out.

They had taken rooms in a small hotel tucked out of the way on a side street, cheap and discreet, Irene’s preferred place to stay when things were going wrong. They ducked in to their rooms to change into clean and dry clothes, the rain had slowed to a fine drizzle, annoying but tolerable. Dressed in a plain but nice dress, Irene waited whilst Kai did up his cufflinks. 

“How do you feel?” He asked her, looking up as he fiddled. 

“Tired, worried.” Irene shrugged. “I’ll be fine.” She wrapped a shawl around her shoulders, it was warm enough now that the summer showers had stopped that she didn’t need her coat, she did keep the umbrella though. Kai offered her his arm, and they left.

The building that they were watching from a park bench did not seem like it was very much. A relatively large house, all of its windows lit up by blazing ether lamps that shone through thin and lacy curtains on the upper floors and spilt out of the uncovered windows on the ground level. The front door was painted red, as was the wood around the windows. 

Irene left Kai and Vale to walk around to see if she could find the back of the building. Slipping down the alley way that separated the back of the house’s gardens from the row behind it, she counted down wooden gates until she found the right number. The wall was too high for her to climb alone in a dress and given the lights, she probably would have been seen. The gate itself was sturdy and the wood showed no sign of rot, it was either well maintained or newly replaced, either way, it was the same red as the door and windows. 

She made her way back around when the back of her neck prickled. There was someone else’s shadow stretching out on the floor in front of her. It was either a coincidence, or someone had seen her poking around from the upper windows, she hadn’t seen anyone up there, but that didn’t guarantee that they had not seen her. The curious part of her mind wanted her to stop and see who it was, the sensible part of her mind reminded her that that was a sure-fire way to get herself hurt if she was being followed and this wasn’t just some random member of the Dublin populace who frequented back alleys. That combination probably would not be great either. 

“My little mouse, why am I not surprised to find you back here?”  
 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I have completely forgotten how to write and things are very slow and I hate everything


	3. Chapter 3

She would recognise that purring voice anywhere. She was, however, pleased that she didn’t startle to a noticeable degree. Instead she inhaled, and turned around, pinning a bland smile to her lips. “Silver.” She said. “Right where you wanted me, I presume?”

“It also happens to be where you need to be.” He replied. “You came here all alone?” He was as impeccably dressed as always, and smiling at her almost kindly, the stupid, animalistic part of her brain wondered if he’s smile at her like that as he stripped her of her clothes and goddammit, she was going to hit him.

“Of course I didn’t.” She said. “Vale and Kai are not too far away, just in case you want to try anything untoward.” 

“I wouldn’t dare.” He said, stepping towards her and giving a toothy smile, he gave up on his attempt to glamour her and beguile her and it was simply just a smile that revealed teeth that were a little too sharp for a human. 

“What do you want?” She asked, setting her hands upon her hips. “Why did you send me that message?” 

“Show me to the others, and we can talk.” He said. She frowned, span on her heel and headed back to Vale and Kai. Kai was leaning against a lamp post, arms crossed across his chest, he looked up as if he sensed them, and his eyes narrowed. 

“Lord Silver.” Vale said. “What part do you play in this? This time?” 

“Does this remind you two of Venice, or is it just me?” He asked. 

“I try not to think about it.” Irene said dryly. “What do you know?” 

“I know that you should have done a lot more research before sending such a sweet little thing after a book owned by a man who brags about his sadism.” Irene felt herself pale, and she tasted bile. Someone touched her shoulder, but she could barely feel it. “How much younger than you is she? Ten years?” 

“Where is she?” 

“Inside.” Silver said. “Don’t worry, she’s still alive.” Irene exhaled, her lungs were burning, and she tried to remember when she had stopped breathing. “Or she was last time I saw her. She looked a little worse for wears, from what I have heard, he is not the most gentle of partners.” It was like she had been punched in the stomach and she lost her breath again.

“How do I get her out?” 

“You can’t.” He said with a flourish of his hand. 

“Silver.” Vale’s voice was harsh and cold. 

“You two cannot go in there. And the princeling would probably be shot as soon as he stepped foot inside.” He said. “It is a club for my people, you can only go in if you are a guest. I can take miss Winters in as my guest; she can do what she can to get her friend out of there.” 

“And what do you want for your help?” Vale demanded, speaking when Irene’s brain was still stuttering. Oh god, what had she done?

“Oh this is going to cause a highly entertaining situation, that will be enough for me, besides O’Hara could do with getting knocked down a peg or two, I’ll even send you more flowers if you go back to his house and steal the book.” 

“Oh so this is just like Venice all over again.” Vale spat. 

“Well at least no one is going to threaten to turn me into their… I am not sure what the exact wording was, let’s go with pet.” Irene said. 

“Oh I didn’t say that. O’Hara could take a shine to you as well. Two pet Librarians? He would become intolerable.” Silver sounded far too happy about the situation.

“I am going to punch you in the face one of these days.” Irene said. 

“Can I be there when you do?” Kai asked. “And then take my turn.” 

“Look, you can threaten me later.” Silver said. “Would you like my help? Or would the three of you like to come up with your own plan?” 

“We could wait for him to leave.” Kai said. 

“We’d probably all end up getting arrested.” Vale pointed out.

“I intend on doing several things tonight that will get me arrested.” Irene said. “Wait outside of his house? Or inside?” 

“Probably would end up more illegal than us starting a fight out here.” Kai said. “Breaking and entering, assault and knowing you, grand theft larceny whilst we are at it.” 

“Like I am not going to do all three of those.” She said. “I loathe to admit this, but Silver is probably our best option.” 

“I told you-” She hit Silver. He yelped in pain and stepped back. “You hit me!” 

“I warned you.” 

“Look, you can get me in there, Kai, Vale you can decide what you two want to do whilst I am occupied. Silver, what do I need to do?” 

“I suppose what you are wearing will do.” He raked his eyes up her body and she tightened her shawl around herself. “You just need to walk in with me, you can do what you want after that. Just please don’t burn it down, I do enjoy this place.” Irene swallowed. 

“Alright.” She said slowly. “Now?” 

“Or tomorrow night. It is your choice.” She shook her head. 

“I am not leaving Seraphina here any longer than I have to.” 

“Irene, are you sure that this is a good idea?” Kai said. It was his hand on her shoulder, he hadn’t removed it.

“It definitely is a bad idea.” Irene said. “But if he has hurt her…” 

“He has.” 

“Fine, if he thinks he can get away with hurting her, he is going to be sorely mistaken.” Irene said darkly. “I’ll be careful.”

“You promise?” 

“I promise.” She said, she pulled him into a tight hug. **“I promise.”**

“Good. Vale, could you go around to guard the back door, I’ll stay out the front, that way they can’t run off in either direction, Silver, are there any other exits?” 

“No.” He said, shaking his head. 

“Alright then, we make sure that our mark doesn’t make it out without us noticing then, what does he look like?” 

He’s a little over six feet tall, black hair, grey eyes.” Irene said. 

“He’s wearing a red waistcoat.” Silver added. “That should stand out. Miss Winters?” He offered her his arm and Irene pushed down a wave of nausea and anxiety, a truly terrible combination, and took it. She was used to coming up with plans very quickly, but she usually had considerably more time to plan then she had just been given, and the only weapon that she had was the knife in her shoe, another hidden in the bodice of her dress and the language, which she would rather avoid in front of a collection of Fae who seemed to be entertained by the fact that one of them was keeping a Librarian as his pet and bringing her to such events.  
  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Found my planning notes so I actually know what is meant to happen in this fic becuase I have forgotten. I think I have six more chapters of this one and have written two of them so maybe once a week updates? Who knows! Certainly not me!
> 
> After reading said notes I realised that there was a mistake in happy new year, the mini epiloguey bit is only actually three years after the start, the epilogue for the entire series is five years later I just have the big dumb
> 
> Also, book six just got announced and the cover is hecking beautiful and I need it so bad


	4. Chapter 4

 

The door was opened by a young maid who kept her head bowed the entire time and Irene was hit with a wave of alcohol and tobacco fugue and she tried not to choke on it. Someone took her shawl before she could protest. Silver took off his hat and coat and let it be whisked away to be hung up in another room. He offered her his arm again.

“Come along my little mouse.” For once, the diminutive was fitting.

 

The room he led her in was once the dining room of the house, but the wall had been knocked through to join it to a large sitting room. It wasn’t the kind of club where you sat around eating after all.

 

Most of the women wore considerably less than Irene was, and she thankfully felt out of place and would not be changing that fact any time soon, no matter how hard Siler was trying to undress her with his eyes. Men lounged on sofas and armchairs, served drinks and hor d’ouvres by pretty little things in barely-there maid outfits, the woman at the door must have just been given more clothes for when unwelcome people came knocking.

 

Women who weren’t maids were instead partners, concubines or pets for the night. Many of them sat on the floor, curled against the legs of the men who must have brought them there. Silver took a seat and snapped his fingers, guessing the silent instruction, Irene sat on the floor by his feet, taking care to tuck her feet under her skirts. The nearest woman turned up her nose at Irene straight away. Irene didn’t care, she kept her eyes passively on the floor.

 

“I thought O’Hara was here.” Silver said innocently as he looked around the room.

“Looking forward to another argument?” A nearby Fae asked with a deep, booming laugh. “He took his new toy upstairs, she was misbehaving, he’ll probably be back soon though. Who is your new thing?” Irene wanted to protest at being called a thing, that was quite rude. But she bit her tongue instead. Seraphina was somewhere in the house.

“She’s called Rosalie. Pretty thing, isn’t she?” Silver stroked her hair with long, elegant fingers that she could imagine stroking other parts of- She was going to kill him. “New secretary I am breaking in. She isn’t fun at the moment.” He pinched the back of her neck and she supressed a jerk away from him.

 

Someone gave him a glass of brandy and set a glass of water down for Irene. Damn, she was going to need brandy if she had to stay like this for long. The men talked about a good many highly dull things that she tuned out. Silver kept running his hands through her hair in a dominating manner.

 

Kai ran his fingers through her hair all the time. But it was soothing when he did it. It was comforting. It felt wrong when Silver did it. Like she was receiving the same attention one may give a dog that you didn’t actually want to pay attention to, you just wanted to stop barking.

 

She couldn’t supress her reaction when Silver pinched her again and she jumped away from him. He yanked her back by the hair and her back hit the wooden part of his chair with a thud. That would bruise. Someone laughed.

“I see what you mean.” Someone said. “Maybe a bit of harsher treatment?”

“I would rather keep her in one piece.” Silver said. “Good workers are so hard to come by.” What the hell was he playing at? He said that he wasn’t going to try anything.

“A good old fashioned crop will do the trick.” Someone said. “And you won’t even have to mess up her face. Besides, you only need to hit them a few times. They get the idea pretty quickly.” The woman sat by that man’s feet was a young blonde around Irene’s apparent age, bruises all up and down her bare arms. Maybe she should burn the whole place down.

 

“Probably a good idea.” Silver sighed. He tossed his drink back. “Anyone have anything I can gag her with? I don’t want to deal with crying.”

“There should be something upstairs.” Someone said, another man laughed.

 

Irene was yanked to her feet and Silver shoved her out of the room and to the stairs.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” She hissed once they were out of ear shot. He continued to push her up the stairs.

“Trust me.” He responded; voice pitched low enough that she could barely hear him. “There are four rooms upstairs that we can use for our guests, your friend will be in one of them.” He said. “We can go out the back. Do to O’Hara as you please.”

 

Irene reached down to pull the knife out of her boot, flipping the blade open, she moved to the only door there was sound coming from. Silver was lingering away from her, in the doorway of one of the seemingly empty rooms. There was a possibility that she was wrong, but it was unlikely, he was the only one that they had mentioned was up here. When she twisted, the doorknob did not move.

 

**“Door under my hand, unlock.”** She heard the tell-tale click, and then she shoved the door open, and froze.  

 

There was a woman, barely dressed, laying in the middle of the bed, bound and gagged. She whimpered as the door was opened. Irene could smell blood on the air, but luckily couldn’t see any, though the woman was sporting cuts and bruises, none of them were fresh. Her red hair was a tangled and knotted mess.

 

“Watch the door.” She snapped to Silver, Seraphina was currently the only person in the room and she did not want to get taken by suprise. She hurried to the bed and began to undo the gag. “Seraphina.” She hissed. Her eyes were unfocused and bloodshot from the tears that had dried sticky on her cheeks. “Hey.” She pinched her cheek. She whimpered. “Come on. We need to get you out of here.” She undid the gag and tossed the strip of fabric away before starting on the knots binding her hands to the headboard.

 

“Irene, you shouldn’t be here.” She croaked. “You need to go.”

 

“I am not leaving without you.” She replied, giving up and pulling the knife from her boot to slice through the ties before she began looking for some clothes for Seraphina to put on. “I don’t know when O’Hara will be back, and I want to be far away from here before he finds out I have come for you.”

 

“No.” She said. “Irene, it’s a trap. You need to run.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay I kind of like this story now. But that is just because now I am being mean to characters and I like angst


	5. Chapter 5

“What?” Her blood ran cold.

 

“It… I don’t know. There was something about a prince. And nightmares. Irene, you need to run, leave me here.” She said. Irene ignored her. There was a dress on the floor, and she shook it out.

 

“Put that on. Quickly. We can go out the back stairs.” She tossed it at Seraphina. “Come on. If we get out of here soon, we do not have to worry about it being a trap. I have help waiting for us outside.” Seraphina scrambled to put her dress on, wincing as she pulled at wounds that were semi healed and oozing.

 

The Prince was clearly Kai, and as for the nightmares… she had no idea. Was O’Hara somehow behind Kai’s sleepless nights? That could spell trouble if he was and she may just straight up drag him into the Library if need be. Seraphina stood up and staggered with a gasp of pain. Irene caught her.

 

“How bad is it?” Irene asked.

 

“Everything hurts and if I see that bastard again, I will burn him alive.” She spat.

 

“I’ll help.” Silver ushered them down the backstairs. “Seraphina, this is Silver.”

 

“We’ve met.” Seraphina said.

 

“Ah.”

 

“I do not wish to set him on fire. Just break his face.” She said. “Sorry if he is your friend.”

 

“He is not.” Irene said. “Luckily, he hates O’Hara too, so I will have to stop you breaking his face as he is helping us. **Door unlock.** It would be mean.” She flawlessly switched into and out of the Language and let them into the back garden. Vale had already unlocked the back gate and held it open for them.

 

“That went well.” He said.

 

“Vale I swear to god if you have just jinxed us all I will not be happy.” Irene huffed, she locked the gate after them. “Things are not going well at all. This was all a trap and we need to get far away before-” There was the crack of a bullet on the wall and they flinched, ducking down on instinct. “Talk later.” And then they ran.

 

Irene took Seraphina’s hand, holding tightly onto her and dragging her behind and out onto the street, Kai met them. “What was that?”

 

“Gun. This was a trap.” Irene said, glancing back over her shoulder she could see a shadowy figure gaining on them. “Seri, where should we go?”

 

“The park will be locked. Once we get in there we can cross it quicker than they can get around it.” She puffed. She tugged Irene back round to the house fronts and the others followed.  **“Gate unlock.** ” he said and shoved it open with a shriek of iron. Irene was grateful when she realised that the gates were iron, that would slow down any pursuit. “ **Gate lock.”** She spat once they were all through.

 

“There is another gate on the far side, right?” Silver said, eyeing the gating with wariness, clearly worried about having to climb over them and possibly burning himself on them.

 

“Yes.” Seraphina was frowning and breathing heavy.

 

“Can you run?” She asked, grasping her shoulders.

 

“I’ll be fine.” She said, nodding, there was sweat beading on her forehead. “Just… we should go. Before Jupiter gets back here.”

 

“Agreed,” Irene said. “Come on, we shouldn’t linger.” There were shouts on the street as they made their way across the park at a jog. Seraphina staggered and Irene grabbed her before we can fall. “Are you sure you are alright?”

 

“No. I am not alright, but this really isn’t the time for this.” She said.

 

“I can carry you.” Kai volunteered and she immediately flinched away from him, almost cowering. He backed away. “It’s alright if you don’t want me to.” He said softly, glancing to Irene. “The offer is open if you need it.”

 

“Thank you, but I will manage for now.” She said. She was still holding Irene’s hand tightly. “Where are we going from here?” She asked as they reached the other gate and Irene ordered it open. “You can’t… If they catch you, I think they intend on killing you Irene.”

 

“I’ll be fine.” Irene said, glancing at Kai. “You may be a victim in all of this too.” She said. “And we should be able to lose them in saint Stevens green, right? That isn’t too far from here. I think. I should have looked at the map more.” A shout jolted them into action and they ran down narrow streets that were brightly lit by blazing streetlamps.

 

The second park, saint Stevens green, was much larger than Merrion square and it wasn’t gated, but the trees and foliage was thicker by a magnitude and Irene took the first opportunity to hide them all. “There weren’t any werewolves, right?” She asked Silver, he shook his head. “Thank god.” She sat on the ground and Seraphina all but collapsed next to her, wincing and cringing.

 

The others were less out of breath than the red head was but Kai, Vale and Silver all sat down in the trees and bushes to catch their breath.

 

“What did you mean that it was a trap Seri?” Irene asked once the other woman had caught her breath again. She pulled her close, letting her curl up under her arm. “You said that it was a trap, and something about nightmares.”

 

“He told me all about his plan.” Seraphina said. “It is a flaw with Fae with his arch type, they just love to brag. I don’t think he expected me to have the chance to tell you, he probably didn’t expect you to be here so soon, to find me without him dropping a hint to you.” She explained. She could feel blood on her thighs and she grimaced, she didn’t like the sensation of it drying but running had woken week old wounds that now screamed for attention. “He was angry about something. Furious.”

 

“It’s alright.” Irene said gently. “You are safe now.”

 

“He was angry about the treaty. He lost territory over it.” She said. “So he was going to take revenge against those who he was holding responsible.”

 

“We did make sure that the treaty was going to get signed.” Vale said. Seraphina nodded.

 

“He wanted to kill Irene.” She said. “Apparently it was the easiest way to get rid of her. I don’t know what he was going to do to the Fae ambassador.”

 

“They weren’t involved in getting it signed.” Irene said, shaking her head. “It was Silver, Vale, Kai, a dragon called Mu Dan and myself.” Seraphina frowned, and then slowly nodded her head.

 

“That makes sense then.” She said. “He didn’t talk about them.”

 

“But he talked about us?” Silver demanded, she nodded again.

 

“He wanted to discredit you, take your power and position. He was going to start with making you lose face at the club. He didn’t talk about you much, nor you sir.” She said, nodding to Silver. “He spoke about the Prince, would that be you?” She asked Kai, he nodded.

 

“You mentioned nightmares.” Irene said. “What do you mean?”

 

“I never got the opportunity to really look into the magics of this world.” She said. “But from the sounds of it, you can imbue items with Fae magic.”

 

“Yes, that is true, they use it to be able to communicate in Zeppelins.” Vale said. “I have heard of it being used for malicious intent. But it is rarely done. He would have had to be able to break into your house to place it there, or trick you into bringing it in yourself.” He was looking at Kai who looked as if he wished to be pacing but didn’t dare give away their hiding spot just in case.

 

“It could be done quite easily.” Silver said. “And the longer you were around it, the greater the hold of the magic over you. More exposure, more effect.” He waved his hand. “That grammar was incorrect. But you get the idea. The effects could linger after you get rid of the item too, for a few days or weeks, so you wouldn’t notice if you spent a few days away from the item.”

 

“I have a few ideas of what it could be.” He said. “Trinkets that I have picked up over the past few months.” Irene nodded, he had a few little bits and pieces that were dotted around  the house, he said that it made the house feel more lived in and more like home. She had added a few of her own things at that comment. “I will have to go through everything and try and work out what it is. And dispose of it.” 

 

“Why not just kill him as well?” Irene asked.

 

“I think the plan was to make him go insane. And possibly the other dragon as well, you may want to check in with them, just in case he has done the same to them and they haven’t found it yet, or if there is something else going on.”

 

“I’ll go and visit once I know this is finished up.” He said. He poked his head out of the bushes. “I think it is safe to go now. We should get you somewhere where we can clean you up and tend to wounds.”

 

“A good idea.” Irene said.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am not too sure how I feel about this chapter, but I dont hate it, so I'll take it.
> 
> So far all of the fics in this series, except for Happy New Year, have had a literary theme. The next one will be called Robbing Treasure Island, and hopefully will be out sometime in July. Not sure what the laters ones will be called, I am trying to follow the theme but the first three havent been intentional so I am not sure if I'll keep it up


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is a bit heavier than the others, no graphic descriptions or anything but they do discuss sexual assault and rape

There was a first aid kit in Irene’s case, and she found it out and shoed Kai and Vale out of the hotel room when she saw how wide Seraphina’s eyes grew when they all went into the same room (they had misplaced Silver at the doors of a pub and none of them cared to drag him along with them.)

 

“How long was he holding you for?” Irene asked, dousing a cotton ball in rubbing alcohol and beginning to clean the cuts as she came across them, Seraphina was laying on the hotel bed in just her underwear, and Irene began on the thin rope burns around her legs.

 

“Nine days.” She said, voice cracking, her eyes were shut tight and she was clenching the sheets in her hands.

 

“I am sorry, I would have come sooner.”

 

“You didn’t know.” She said. “You couldn’t have-” She cut herself off with a sharp hiss of pain. Irene pressed the cotton to a deep cut on her thigh. “Shit that hurts.”

 

“Sorry, but I don’t want you to get an infection.” Irene said. She used a wash cloth that shed soaked in cold water and pressed it to the wound to soothe the burn of the alcohol and inflamed skin from where it was swelling around the cuts. “I’ll try and be quick but I think this is going to take some time.”

 

“Just… be quick.” She sounded almost childlike. “Please.”

 

“I’ll try.” Irene felt sick as she took in the wounds. They weren’t severe wounds, there was just a lot of them. Handprint shaped bruises were like purple flowers on her thighs and hips. There were more bruises on her ribs, disappearing underneath her brasserie. She was torn between nausea and red rage and the urge to throttle the man who had done this.

 

She ran out of bandages pretty soon, making sure to cover the worst of the friction burns and the cuts in her thighs, where the wounds would hurt the most if left open. Seraphina’s eyes were half lidded by the time she was done, her breathing shallow for the most part, though hitching if Irene touched a wound that was still stinging and aching.

 

“Sleep.” Irene said, pulling the covers over the semi-conscious woman. “I’ll be here when you wake up.” Seraphina reached out to grab her hand and squeezed it tightly. “I am just going to talk to Vale and Kai. I wont be long.” She nodded and released Irene’s hand.

 

“Are you alright?” Kai asked, upon opening the door to Irene’s knock. Irene shook her head and he slipped his arms around her to hold her tight for a moment, he was warm and it was comforting to feel him against her. “How bad was it?”

 

“Not the worst that I have seen.” Irene admitted. “But… she didn’t tell me what he did to her, but I found her tied to a bed in her underwear. I can work out what he did to her pretty easily. And it makes me sick. I want to kill him.” Vale and Kai looked slightly shocked. “Don’t look at me like that. Seraphina told me to set him on fire and I think she was onto something there.” Kai poured her a glass of brandy and she took it and tossed it back in one go.

 

“You really aren’t okay, are you?” He said, she shook her head. If Vale weren’t here, she would be crawling into his lap and crying into his shoulder. As it was, she could not deal with his often cutting comments about displays of emotions without losing her nerve with him. So she pushed back the tears. His hand was warm on her back. “It’s alright, we know his plan and Seraphina is safe.”

 

“He… He hurt her because I sent her here Kai. I decided who was sent on this assignment. I didn’t do my research properly. I all but sent her straight into his arms.” There was a half hysterical hitch in her voice. “I was meant to be here instead. She got hurt instead of me. She should never have been here.”

 

“Are you listening to yourself Irene?” Kai shook her shoulders. “Did you listen to her? He wants you dead. He would have killed you. She is still alive, you would be dead right now. We would be at your funeral!” Irene shoved him away from her.

 

“He raped her Kai!” Her voice cracked. “I was meant to be good at my job. I failed, and he hurt her.” Her eyes prickled. “He hurt her, when it should have been me. I would gladly have switched places with her if it meant that she wasn’t hurting right now.” She swallowed.

 

“Please don’t say that.” Kai said. “Please don’t Irene. You would be dead. I would have lost you.” He reached out for her and she jerked back, nearly stumbling but managing to regain her footing and used the wall to balance herself. “Irene. I cannot lose you. I know that you are hurting for you, and for her right now. But you are all but wishing yourself dead right now.” He reached for her again, and this time she let him cup her cheek. “You are not at fault here. You could not have foreseen how this would have turned out, you could not have known that he would have hurt her, or what he has been doing to us for the past several months. None of us could have done so. If you want to blame anyone, blame O’Hara. And if you really must set him on fire, I have a lighter and brandy.”

 

“He is not worth the brandy.” Irene said bitterly.

 

“No but it is highly flammable.” Kai said. “You should get some sleep.”

 

“I said I would be there were Seraphina woke up, so I’ll sleep on the couch in there tonight.” She said. “Sorry.”

 

“What are you apologising for?” Kai asked. “I think your night things are in the other room though.”

 

They bid Vale goodnight and once they were in what would now just be Kai’s room, she flung herself into his arms for a proper embrace. Kai caught her with the practised ease of a man who regularly caught a woman on the verge of passing out (she really need to work on that) and he held her tightly. He was whispering something to her, sweet nothings probably but Irene couldn’t think properly and wasn’t registering his words.

 

Kai kissed the top of her head. “It’s alright Irene.” He murmured into her hair. “I’ve got you. You’re safe.” Irene hiccupped and tilted her head back to look up at him with tearing eyes. “It’s okay Xingan.” He wiped her tears away with the cuff of his shirt. “It is going to be okay.” She buried her head in his chest again, and he exhaled. Irene could hear his heart and it was somewhat soothing to her, even and steady and unwavering. “Look at me Irene.” She tilted her head up to look at him again. “You are not to blame, this is not your fault. Now that we know what the problem is, we can fix it.”

 

Irene exhaled and forced her breathing to even out before she stepped away from him and used her handkerchief to clean her face up properly. “Sorry I am such a mess.” She said, dabbing at her eyes. “You are right, finding out what the problem is was half of the battle, now just to combat it.”

 

“You aren’t a mess. You are having a perfectly reasonable reaction. Though I am curious, were you like this when I got kidnapped?” He sat on the edge of the bed.

 

“No. There was less self-loathing involved.” She said. “And more anger, though that may have been Vale’s fault.” He cocked an eyebrow. “He was being sarcastic, and I was not in the mood for it at the time.” She sat next to him and he slid his arm around her.

 

She took a deep breath and slowly released it again, staring at her hands. “There is a lot of risk for Librarians, I know that.” She said. “But I recruited Seraphina, I promised her that she would be safe. She was homeless when I found her. I was wrong. She isn’t safer. I may not be directly responsible, but she wouldn’t be here if it wasn’t for me.”

 

“You’re right.” Kai said. “She would probably be dead. And she certainly wouldn’t have a friend who cares this much.” He ran his hand up and down her back in soothing strokes. “The same situation could have happened, only then she wouldn’t have had anyone coming to save her, she would have been completely alone. At least she has you now.” Irene rested her head on his shoulder, still staring at her hands.

 

“I knew the risk.” She said quietly. “I was… twenty-two the first time I got sexually assaulted doing this job.” Kai stiffened. “I knew that it could happen, because it happened to me. And I still told her that she would be safe. I lied to her and she trusted me.”

 

“First time.” Kai said slowly. “You said the first time.”

 

“One in three women will be sexual assaulted in their lifetime.” Irene said. “And that’s those who report it. I think the number would actually be higher if it was more commonly talked about.” She turned her face to his neck and tried to keep her breathing even. She could smell cologne on his skin. “I don’t talk about it.”

 

“That does explain things a little more.” Kai said. “I’m never going to hurt you.”

 

“I know.” She whispered against him. “I trust you Kai. I love you.”

 

“And I love you too.” He said, kissing her hair. “I love you and I am sorry that that happened to you.” He was warm against her, and he smelt good and Irene could feel herself being lulled to sleep by his presence. She shook herself.

 

“I need to get changed.” She finally said, running a hand through her hair. “And sleep.” With a lot of reluctance, she pulled away from him and got to her feet.

 

“Agreed. You need your rest.” Kai said, he stood too and caught her lips in a chaste kiss. “Come get me if you need anything, alright? I probably wont sleep tonight, just in case and, well… it is hard to sleep without you in my arms.” Irene managed a small smile before she brushed a kiss along his jaw.

 

“I cant sleep without you either.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just really like writing angst okay? That being said, this chapter was pretty hard for me to write as it is something that I sadly have experience in


	7. Chapter 7

One of Irene’s dresses was massive of Seraphina, there were six inches difference in their heights with Seraphina barely reaching Irene’s shoulders. She didn’t have any shoes either, so Irene went out to get her some as soon as shops were open, those did not add much to her height though. The dress was a little too wide as well, Seraphina was barely a slip of a girl whilst Irene was a bit sturdier.

 

They ate breakfast in the room the two women had shared. Seraphina had been relatively talkative whilst they had been hiding in the bushes or in the cab that finally took them back to the hotel, but now she was almost silent, answering questions she was asked in as short a way as she could manage. Shock. Irene had tried to coax more out of her but had been wholly unsuccessful and now she sat in the corner with dark eyes that flickered around the room, unsettled and unable to settle when every little thing made her jump.

 

“I think the next part of the plan is to get Seraphina back to the Library.” Irene said as she finished her cup of coffee and refilled it from the pot on the desk. “Though that may have to wait until the evening, the only library I know of it Trinity college and that will be too busy.”

 

“There’s the chain library.” Seraphina said quietly.  “And the national.” That had probably been the longest time that she had spoken to and she refused to meet Kai and Vale’s eyes, barely managing to look at Irene.

 

“Sorry, there’s a chain library in Dublin?” Irene demanded, distracted for a second. She pulled herself back together. “I can look into that later. There probably isn’t enough books there and security will be higher there anyway. Kai do you still have that map from yesterday? I don’t know where the national is.” Kai pulled it out with a rustle of paper. “Kildare street? Right?” Seraphina nodded. “That’s… close to Merrion Square. It’ll have to do. We wont be long though.”

 

“Are you coming with me?” Seraphina asked. Irene paused to think.

 

“I’ll set up a temporary link, check in and then come back. I still need the book.” Irene said. “Sorry.” Seraphina pulled her legs into her chest, but she nodded and looked at her knees. “Do you know where it is?”

 

“He has a vault.” She said. “Back of the house. Ground floor and basement level. The entrance is on the first floor.” Irene frowned and she looked up. “I know, weird. I think he was paranoid about something or other.” All of her sentences were short and choppy, different to what Irene was accustomed to, the other woman was normally talkative and making jokes.

 

“I wonder why?” Vale muttered, Irene shushed him.

 

“The vault is fireproof and airtight.”

 

“Taken into account.” Irene said, they’d marked his house off on the map and she tapped it thoughtfully. “Kai, Vale, you two should probably head back to London, try and find that trinket, or whatever it is. Before the effects can get worse.”

 

“Agreed.” Vale said. Kai looked unsure, but he slowly and highly reluctantly nodded. He looked like he wanted to argue and insist that he stay, but then he would be overstepping and potentially causing a lot of trouble. On the one hand he would be directly involving himself in Library business in stealing a book, on the other hand, he would get the chance to kill the Fae who had been messing with his mind and dreams for months now with the sole purpose of causing him to lose his mind.

 

“You should probably try let Mu Dan know what is going on.” Irene said. “I can try and get word to her through a Librarian, but I cannot guarantee that anyone will be able to reach her.” She spread her hands, already thinking of a plan of what to do next. What she would need, what security she could expect, what her next move would be after returning Seraphina to safety.

 

“A word Irene?” Kai said, there was an underlaying tension in his voice. He locked the door behind him once they were in the room that he slept in. Then he slipped an arm around her waist, pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers. Irene hadn’t expected that but she didn’t care as she looped an arm around his shoulders and sunk into the kiss, parting her lips against his. His arms were warm, a light pressure, he probably would have been holding her tighter if he wasn’t worried that she was still aching (she was).

 

“What was that for?” She asked once they had been forced to part in order to breath.

“I don’t know when I will see you next. So I wanted to take what I could whilst I have you here.” She checked her watch. “I miss you when you leave.”

“How long do you think we have before Vale’s curiosity and lack of patience makes him come to look for us?”

“We probably have five minutes.” Kai said.

“Damn. Alright, is there anything that you actually want to speak about? Or is this just…”

“Two things.” He said, stepping away from her to pace the room, he didn’t trust his own self-control to prevent him from spending the next five minutes that they had in privacy kissing her until his lips were buzzing.

 

“Two. I don’t think that it is a good idea for you to go after the book alone. We already know that he wants to kill you. Let me stay here with you, just to watch your back.”

 

“You know that you cant stay Kai.” She said, shaking her head. “You would be displaying a bias, and I would be… I would be in direct violation of the Libraries neutrality if I am seen using you to help me with my job, not to mention I would be putting you in trouble along with me.” He reached forward to cup her cheek and she tilted her head to press against his hand. “Kai, you have to go back home. There are things that need to be done.”

 

“Wont you ever put your own safety first?” He asked.

 

“I don’t think I know how to at this point.” Irene said. She reached out and grasped the front of his shirt, pulling him close until there was a scant inch between them. “You will always come first to me, you and the other people that I care about.” He smiled, sad and kind all at once before he kissed her forehead.

 

“Sometimes I think that you are too good for the world Xingan. You are certainly too good for me.” Irene snorted before brushing a soft kiss across his lips.

 

“Here I was thinking the same thing about you.” She murmured against his mouth. “You know that this wont convince me to bring you with me, just so you know.”

 

“I would not stoop so low as to try and emotionally manipulate you.” He said. “I just wanted to let you know that I love you, and that I am going to miss you whilst you’re away. Do you have a plan?”

 

“Not yet.” Irene confessed. “I’ll go back to Seraphina’s hotel and pick up her notes and come up with a plan. Trust me Kai, I am going to be careful about this.”

 

“I do trust you.” Kai said. “But he is dangerous. And we don’t know where O’Hara even is, he could very well be waiting for you to go to his house.”

 

“And I can talk to Seraphina, find out what went wrong. To be honest, I don’t exactly know what Jupiter O’Hara even looks like. He probably isn’t expecting me to go to his house, and I know to be prepared. Seraphina didn’t know that he was dangerous. I am not going into this blind Kai. And besides, I used to do things like this all the time, without anyone to help me.”

 

“I know, but after what you said last night…”

 

“No one is ever going to hurt me that way again. I spent months training in combat after that. No one touches me unless I want them to, not anymore, and never again.” She said. 

 

“I knew there was a reason why I loved you.” Kai joked.

 

“Just one?” She responded. “And that was thing number two that you wanted to talk about, so what was number one?” He crossed to her, swept her up in his arms.

 

“This, obviously.” He said, and he kissed her again.

 

She wound fingers into his hair and let herself be pressed against the wall. With her run of bad luck, she wouldn’t see him again for at least a few weeks and if they had the time, they probably would have ended up on the bed, making more of a mess of the sheets than they had been left in.

 

Six minutes later, Vale was knocking on the door.

“Wow, he gave us ten minutes.” Kai said. “I am actually shocked.” Irene laughed. “Just a minute Vale!” Irene leant her head against the wall. Kai pressed a final, chaste kiss to her lips. He watched as she smoothed out her blouse and hair. “You look fine. How do I look?” She flicked her eyes up and down his form.

 

“Pocket knife?” She asked, arching an eyebrow. “I hope so at least, or you are going to need more than that minute.” Kai shoved his hand into his pocket and pulled out a blue swiss army knife.  “Oh good.”

 

“I am not a teenager.” He said. “I have some self-control over that.” He looked down and then up again and gave her a smile. “Sometimes.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, yeah, that joke at the end was pretty childish, I dont care 
> 
> I may start posting some of the oneshots I have on here because I have a lot and do not like posting them on Tumblr because I usually forget and I post on here a lot more than I do there, who knows? Certainly not me


	8. Chapter 8

With Seraphina at her shoulder, Irene had to supress her urge to kiss Kai goodbye, and instead touched his elbow, and told him that she would be home as soon as possible, and to just leave whatever paper work she received on her desk, unless it was labelled urgent, that would need to be taken care of.

He looked as if he wished to kiss her too, but restrained himself to wish her luck and safety, and to say the same to Seraphina. She ducked her head, fidgeted and looked away. Irene kept her arm linked with Seraphina’s the entire time that they were at the Zeppelin port, occasionally leaning over to murmur to her when the woman jumped at a sudden sound or flinched when a man brushed too close to her. The sooner she was in the Library, the better, Irene thought. 

“Let’s get you home.” Irene said as they left the port. “You will probably need to clean and cover your wounds for another week or so for them to heal once you are in another world.” She said. “Keep them covered and clean in the Library.” 

“I know Irene.” She tiredly said. 

“There should be a first aid kit in my rooms if you need one.” She said. “Though I imagine that they’ll send you off as soon as possible. I can talk to Coppelia if you want me to and-” 

Seraphina nearly managed a laugh when she cut her off. “Irene… Irene, you are going to turn into your mother at this rate. Honestly, I love to see you worry for me. But you have already saved me. And you are taking me home. You don’t have to…” She exhaled. “Don’t burden yourself with thoughts of me.” 

“You will never be a burden to me Seraphina.” Irene said, raising her hand to signal for a cab. “You are my friend. Not a burden.” A cab pulled up and Irene gave the address before the two got in. “I just want to make sure that you are safe and well. I don’t have many friends. I want to keep those that I do have as alive as possible.” 

“You seem close with that Kai.” Seraphina said, almost managing a smirk. 

“I would like him to stay alive too.” Irene said, refusing to let her take an inch or give a mile.

“You are blushing.” Seraphina said. Irene was fairly certain that she wasn’t, but she couldn’t be too sure, Kai had the ability to make her blush like a school girl with a crush. “Don’t worry, I wont push. I owe you both a debt, and mister Vale. And I suppose whoever the Fae was. I wont ask, you wont tell and neither of us will have anything to report to Coppelia or someone else about your relationship, working, friends or other.” 

“You’ll start to sound like Coppelia if you talk like that.” Irene said with a smirk. “Eight out of ten I would give you. Minus two points for it not being a serious conversation with and overlaying tone of doom and gloom… How do you feel? I haven’t asked.” Seraphina looked away and shifted in her seat. “Are you in pain?” 

“Yes.” Her voice was hoarse. “I would rather not talk about it though Irene.” She blinked a tear out of her eye. “Not yet.” 

“When you’re ready, if you need someone to talk to, I am here Seri.” Irene reached over to touch her wrist. “If you need anything.”

“I want to forget.” Seraphina said. “Can you make me forget?”

“You know that I cant.” 

“Then there is nothing that you can do for me.” Seraphina muttered. “I know you mean well, and you saved me, but there isn’t anything that can be done now.” She ran a hand through her hair. “I am… I need to sleep.” Irene wished that she had sleep too. “I want to go home.” 

There were enough people heading into the library that they didn’t look out of place, two women with their arms linked and heads ducked to look at the floor as they made their way through the large doors and past the other people silently coming and going. The smell of paper and ink and dust was in instant comfort to the pair of them and Irene was thankful that she could see Seraphina visibly relax a little bit. 

They made their way to the back and once they could be relatively certain that no one would be coming through their way soon, it was far too dusty for regular foot traffic and cleaners, Irene pulled out pen and ink and wrote ‘open to the Library’ below the handle. 

“Wish they would tell the rest of us about that.” Seraphina said as Irene ordered the door open. The room on the other side was massive, high ceiling of glass panes that showed a shadowy sky and a thin crescent moon attempting to peer through. The walls were in dark oak panelling with gold leaf decorations carved into it. Irene let the door close with a soft think and stepped onto thick, emerald green carpeting that matched rich velvet drapes. “Have you been in this room before?” Seraphina asked, face tilted up to look at the sky, the room was shadowy, but the white moonlight beams lit her pallid face, making her freckles stand out more and highlighting her bruises. 

“One of the reading rooms.” Irene said with a nod. “I like this one.” There were thick, plush armchairs, couches and love seats along the walls and strewn about the place. All in the same shade of deep green with brown wood and gold finishing’s. Coffee tables with glass or marble tops were in the centre of a few clusters of chairs, where people would often sit together to read and converse. There was a small kitchen off one side, so that they could make themselves drinks when they wanted them, instead of having to troop back to their quarters if they wanted a cup of tea. 

Seraphina twitched back a heavy curtain to look outside. It had been raining at some point, as usual, and beads of rain still clustered at the corners of each glass panel, and there were puddles on the abandoned streets. She let it fall again. She trailed fingers over velvet and brocade and wood as she followed Irene as she crossed the room, picking her way around the seats and lamps and piles of books, to the massive double doors on the other side. 

“Of course you like this one.” Seraphina said, taking a final glance back at the room. “It is so green. I prefer the one with the bean bags.” 

“Whilst comfortable, it can be such a challenge to get out of those.” Irene said, shaking her head slightly. “Once you are sat down, you don’t want to get up again, and as soon as you do, someone is asking you to make a cup of tea, because they don’t want to get up. Come on, we aren’t too far from the quarters and there should be some computers… Ah, here.” Irene threw herself into an armchair. “Hopefully, Coppelia will be awake to see this, it does appear that everyone is still asleep.” Seraphina dropped into one of the other seats and curled up in it, it certainly was large enough, and she certainly was small enough. 

They were in a small alcove in the corridor, lined with a couple of desks, computers and chairs. It was less ornate than the room that they had just left, but was still done in emerald and brown and the chairs were plush and soft beneath them. Irene jabbed the on button and the screen lit up a couple of seconds later and she watched as the book loading screen opened and flicked through the pages until she could log on.

Irene tapped out a message and sent it before pulling up a map. “You are only five minutes from your rooms.” She said to Seraphina. “Fifteen minutes away from central.” She checked her watch, she probably had twenty minutes, since she wanted to be safe. “Do you want me to walk you back?” Seraphina shook her head. 

“Wait for your response, they may want me for a debrief in person. What…” She swallowed. “What did you tell her?” 

“That you had been the victim of assault and required time to convalesce and that I would be taking over the assignment.” Irene paused. “She may not be too keen on me making those decisions and not leaving her room to change orders, but I was sent to get you, so I am taking the initiative.” Seraphina almost managed a laugh, before she folded her arms on the desk and rested her head on them, sleepily blinking. “How much sleep did you get last night?” 

“Maybe three hours.” She said. “Probably more than you got though. You look like shit.” 

“You continue to be the nicest person that I know.” Irene said dryly, drumming her fingers on the desk before forcing herself to stop and she exhaled. “I can sleep when I get back.” She checked her watch again. “Fifteen minutes. Are you sure that you will be alright if I leave you here?” Seraphina nodded and Irene clearly didn’t look convinced. 

“Irene, I am not far from my room. I can walk back and sleep. Or go to speak with Coppelia. The Library is safe. He cant hurt me here. I should be the one worrying about you.”

“Don’t worry. I will be careful.” She said, gently touching Seraphina’s shoulder. Seraphina stiffened before forcing herself to relax again. She had been doing that all morning, tensing up before visibly forcing herself to exhale and loosen her shoulders. “Will you be? If I make you promise to email me when I return, will you?” 

“That is cruel.” She sounded miserable. “Emotional manipulation much.” 

“I will continue to be cruel until I know that you are okay. Seraphina, you are one of my closest friends, I do not want to lose you to this. Please, for me, promise that you will stay in touch with me.” 

“I don’t want to be a burden.” She whispered. 

“You will never be a burden, not to me, understood?” Irene said firmly. “I do not care what has happened. I do not care about your family or what O’Hara did to you. You are my friend. And I care about you. So yes, I will emotionally manipulate you because it means that I know that you will still be here when I get back. That you will be al-” She choked on the word. “I don’t want to lose you.” 

Seraphina wiped away a tear and sat up again, her hair a mess in a cloud of red that she had to sweep out of her eyes. “Okay.” She swallowed. “I promise. I will email you, if I am here when you return.” 

“Email me when you leave.” Irene said. “Speaking of…” She exhaled. “I don’t want to leave you here but the link will close soon.” 

“Go.” Seraphina said. “I will be fine. I will,,, go and get some more sleep.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Only one chapter of this fic left. It has taken me so long to get through. 
> 
> The next one, Robbing Treasure Island is already fully written and I'll probably post that next Sunday and the story after that, Pursued by a Bear, will probably start going up sometime next month. I have already written a lot of that one but it looks like it is probably going to be the longest one by far, I think it's 20k so far


	9. Chapter 9

Irene’s first port of call was a hotel where she changed into her nightgown and slept for six hours, she hadn’t actually intended on sleeping that long and she awoke hungry and her mouth dry (she was also a little confused as to what day it was, it had been one of _those_ naps.) Wiping drool from her cheek she slowly sat up. It was still light outside. Slowly getting out of bed, ignoring the click that her knee made, she walked to the window and pulled back the curtain.

 

It took a minute for her eyes to adjust to sudden brightness, but when she could see again, she realised that the sun wasn’t even close to setting. She still had plenty of time. Her stomach growled. Okay, dinner first than planning daring thieves and arson.

 

The hotel was cheap and didn’t have a restaurant, so she drew her shawl around her shoulders and found a nearby café where she could order food, coffee and read the paper, she hadn’t managed to read the morning one as she had been distracted and sleep deprived, so she took the opportunity to read over it, she doubted that reports of last night’s escapades would have made the pages as O’Hara wouldn’t want to make it public knowledge that he was holding a captive, but she had to be sure, for peace of mind. There wasn’t anything.

 

She had two cups of coffee, she was still feeling a little lethargic even after that long nap, and quickly ate, tucked away in a shadowy corner where she could watch the entire room and see who was coming in and out of the door. Paper read, food eaten, and coffee consumed, she made her way back to the hotel, and she got to work.

 

The plans weren’t particularly hard to memorise, and based off what Seraphina had said, she had a decent idea of what she should be expecting. Her downfall had been that O’Hara had been waiting for her. Had someone tipped him off? The actual security was minimal, except for the vault door, which shouldn’t be too much of a challenge for her, the Language would open it up nice and quick.

 

Once the sun had set, she changed into trousers (she only wore them when she was planning highly illegal activities that would probably require running. Vale’s world was so backward in their sense of fashion) and a dark overcoat. She wound her scarf round her face and tucked a knife into her boot.

 

She had to make one stop first and after a quick glance over her shoulder, she entered a poorly lit pawn shop. A man at the desk looked up when the bell rang. She let the door shut with a thud as she picked her way across the poorly lit shop.

 

“What do you need?” He asked in a gruff voice, cutting through pleasantries and idle chit-chat. Irene doubted he had a lot of customers on the side of the law in his establishment, at least, not unless the police were here with a warrant.

 

“A pistol.” She said, looking around. “And the bullets if you have them.” She hated guns. Irene well and truly detested them, and that was before she had taken a bullet to the chest. They were dangerous and she hated holding them as much as she hated having them held against her. But it wasn’t the time for such things. O’Hara wouldn’t be pleasant to her; she would not be pleasant back.

 

“Got a single shot. Nice little thing, for a nice little thing.” He leered.

 

“I don’t think so.” Irene said. “I can take my business elsewhere if you don’t have anything that can deal more damage than my knife can. Revolver. Got any?” He glared at her before opening a cabinet behind him.

 

“English or American.” He asked.

 

“English.” She replied. She didn’t have a particular preference, but she imagined that English would be cheaper, and she was planning on ditching the weapon if she had to use it, thank god no one had invented finger printing yet and thank god neither she nor Kai had accidentally mentioned it to Vale. Then she would be in trouble. He dropped a box on the desk and flipped the lid open. It was made of dark metal with a wooden handle, holding six shots with a handful of the bullets in there too.

 

“Fifty.” He said.

 

“Half.” Irene replied.

 

“Forty.”

 

“Thirty.”

 

“Forty.”

 

“Thirty-five.”

 

“Fine.” He growled, slamming the lid shut and holding a handout. Irene handed over the notes and scooped up the box. “If the police come here because of something you do, I wont be happy.”

 

“They won’t.” Irene said, and she left.

 

She loaded the gun, stashed the bullets and ditched the box, sliding the gun into one of the inner pockets of her coat. Keeping her head ducked, no one looked at her twice as she walked down the streets, feeling the metal pressing against her. A tram took her out to Phoenix Park and she wondered across the park dimly lit by sporadically placed lamps. Unlike Kai, she didn’t have hay-fever and was able to enjoy the smell of the summer flowers without sneezing every two minutes.

 

By the time she reached the right house, it was black as pitch, with a waning cresecent moon barely adding a glimmer of light to the sky. The house lights were off, something that made her frown, because Seraphina had also reported that it had been unusually quiet and dark in the residence.

 

She made her way to the side of the house, and then the back before she climbed over the garden wall and dropped into the garden, landing with a thud and a wince in what had previously been a nicely pruned rose bush. Now it had a human sized hole in it from where she had dragged herself out of it.

 

The back of the house was just as dark.

 

Thick ivy grew up the back of the house and Irene could have smiled when she realised that it was growing around the windows and it was thick enough for her to climb. She did her coat up and patted the gun to make sure that it was still in place and was secure before she started to climb.

 

It took her two minutes to scramble up the ivy with absolutely no dignity whatsoever, thank god Kai wasn’t there to watch that embarrassing display of athletics, she really needed to visit the gym more often and do some exercise that isn’t running for her life, climbing into Zeppelins or swimming through whatever body of water she had fallen into, jumped into or been thrown into this time.

 

 **“Window, unlock and open.”** She breathed in the Language, and listened to the click as the lock snapped open and the window slid up with a low creak. She hauled herself in and climbed into the first floor landing. She slowly shut the window again and pushed the lock back into place.

 

The house was deathly silent, thick carpets supressed the creak of the wooden floor as she made her way round to the vault door. It was still quiet and it was beginning to make her feel deeply uncomfortable and paranoia gibbered in the back of her mind. It was hard to ignore, but she didn’t want to get herself into trouble by going to look for it and end up in a lot of trouble.

 

Seraphina had gotten caught as she was leaving, Irene was hoping that she would be able to force an opening to the Library, but she doubted that it was a big enough space, so she probably would have to make a run for it if anything went wrong.

 

She had been unable to plan too much, she’d decided to not overthink it, because she’d be forced to abandon the plan if anything went wrong. The gist of it was to get out the house through the nearest exit, probably a window.

 

She unlocked the vault with a whispered command and shut it again behind her. She pulled the gun out and put her thumb on the hammer, ready to cock it at a seconds notice. It was dark as she made her way down the steps, feeling for the way rather than turning the lights on, and moving as slowly and as quietly as she could, just incase there was someone waitinf for her, down in the dark.

 

She reached the bottom step and finally had to give in. **“Lights, turn on dimly.”** They flickered to life and gave the room a rich and warm orange glow, reminiscent of some of the lights in the Library, bright white light could damage some of the older and more fragile manuscripts.

 

The vault was a bad name for it, lair may be more fitting. The floor and walls were all done in black with red accents (how tacky), some of the walls had shelves of various rare items and books. She ignored the shelves that contained whips and handcuffs.

 

She was there for a copy of Vathek, in all versions she had seen before it had been written in French and translated later on. It had been written in Arabic in Vale’s alternate, and then translated into French and then into English. Whilst it was an Arabian tale, she’d never come across the original being in Arabic, though the gothic novel wasn’t a key area of her interests, she did enjoy similar novels from time to time, when the mood struck her.

 

She’d heard about O’Hara’s copy whilst looking for it in auctions and rare book shops, where she had had no luck, but had managed to pick up the knowledge that he had a copy that he refused to share, simply the worst kind of book owner in her opinion, unless of course there was a genuine reason why it couldn’t be shared, such as it being fragile.

 

She trailed fingers over book spines until she found the right volume and pulled it out. She frowned, there was a message clipped to the front.

 

Looking over her shoulder to make sure she wasn’t about to be taken unawares, she opened the folded up piece of paper and read the short note.

           

            _Keep it._

_I will be in touch_

_J.O’Hara._

_p.s. tell your friend that I had great fun_

He was gone. Run for it. She swore. She wanted to throw the book in a fit of rage by supressed the urge as she put the gun away. The pockets of her coat fit her book in too so she slid it away before grabbing the nearest smashable object, a stuffed owl in a glass dome, and threw it at the wall. The shattering sound was quite satisfying. She exhaled and was glad that she hadnt screamed.

 

She made her way back upstairs, not bothering with stealth now, checking that the door was sealed correctly behind her, she made her way down to the kitchens in the cellar.

 

The oven was a nice, large gas oven. If she enjoyed cooking she’d probably feel bad for what she was about to do. But she had promised Seraphina that she’d burn him, and he was unavailable…

 

She turned all the dials up as high as she could, opening up the oven doors so that the gas would quickly build up in the kitchen. The house was completely empty and the large gardens meant that no one would be within range to come and investigate. She gave it a good ten minutes, until the scent of gas was making her dizzy and a little nauseated, before she opened the cellar door and stepped out into the night air and breathed in a lungful of clean air.

 

She pulled the gun out again, turned back to the door, cocked it, and aimed.

 

Irene didn’t like guns. She hated having them pointed at her, and having to be the person pointing the gun. People got hurt and it always ended badly and loudly.

 

But she had been taught how to use a gun, and she had been taught well. She didn’t miss. At this range, she couldn’t miss.

 

She squeezed the trigger.

 

The blast took her off her feet and she landed with a thud and a groan of pain a couple of feet back, okay, so it was a bit of a bad idea.

 

But that was beside the point again. She got up, lights around her was flickering on in the other houses as O’Hara’s house went up with a bang. The flames grew quickly and Irene decided to get out of there.

 

She scrambled to her feet, she would be bruised to high heaven come morning, her hip was aching as she staggered out of the garden. There were people out on the street now, and she ignored the protest of her muscles as she made a run for it and dashed down the street and disappeared into the dark.

 

She didn’t stop running until she was on the other side of Phoenix park and completely out of breath. She leant against a tree and gasped for breath. Hopefully they would be able to put out the fire before it spread to the other houses, and hopefully that vault was actually fireproof, it would be a shame if the other books were destroyed or damaged.

 

 

She used the cuff of her coat to wipe the sweat off her forehead as she took a deep breath.

 

She waited until she had fully caught her breath before making her way down to the tram station and getting it back into the centre of the city. Her first stop was to a telegram station where she could tap out a message and sent it off to Kai and Vale, with a warning that O’Hara was out there and possibly going to come for them next. She wasn’t sure if Kai was still in the world, or if he had gone to visit Mu Dan and see how she was, and if he had done anything to her, so at the very least, Vale would know what was happening if she got caught up in the Library.

 

She picked up her bag from the hotel and broke into Trinity College library. It was a beautiful library and she would have liked to stay there for longer and look around, but she was tired and let herself into the Library through the first door, she didn’t even bother being particularly sneaky, it wasn’t like they would have been able to follow her anyway.

 

Irene knew that her exhaustion fuelled apathy was probably dangerous for her health but she let herself relax once she was into the Library proper. She dragged herself through the halls and corridors and dropped into the first sofa she found.

 

Adrenaline was great until it wore off and Irene had no qualms with curling up on a random sofa in a random room of the Library, and just… sleep.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that, is it  
> Thank you for reading, please leave a comment, comments give me life, and the next fic in this series should be out next Sunday and is set about three weeks after this one. I will make a timeline of when these are set at some point

**Author's Note:**

> This one will probably be slow to come out, I just need to get through it to get to the next one, which should be fun


End file.
